Krakow’s Cooking Fiestas

Wide choice of good
restaurants in Krakow and its rich culinary traditions
has earned the city a well-deserved reputation as the food capital
of Poland.
Actually, the residents of
Krakow
relish the pleasures of the table and enthusiastically embrace any
occasion to celebrate cooking. And recently the city has developed a
taste for weekend-long open-air fiestas highlighting particular kind
of dishes or foodstuffs. Promoted by restaurateurs and/or producers
of the edibles, hyped in the press, and patronized by crowds of
eager eaters, such events include cooking contests, free food
tasting, displays and markets as well as concerts of music and other
amusements.

The festival of soups takes place on the Maly Rynek square. Krakow
restaurants compete to produce the most delicious and ingenious
borsch, zurek, broth, minestrone, chowder, and the like. Also there
is food tasting plus various live performances.

Polish stuffed dumplings, pierogi, rank high among the country’s
favorite dishes. Traditional fillings are minced meat or cottage
cheese or wild mushrooms or sauerkraut. But an inventive chef can
stuff pierogi with practically any edible, from fruits to seafood.
The venue for the Pierogi Festival is Maly Rynek square, one block
from the central Rynek Glowny square. Chefs compete in a cooking
contest with professional jury and concurrently for votes of the
public which awards its own prize by ballot. There are nearly
200,000 duplings for free tasting plus culinary shows and live
music.

Another food festival on the Plac Wolnica square in Kazimierz
district. On a weekend in mid September an array of chefs show their
mastery of cooking and prepare dishes from various parts of
Malopolska Province.

Organized by Gazeta Krakowska, a local newspaper, and the government
of the Malopolska province.

Jamboree of
trend-conscious foodies and food providers. Well-know restaurants as
well as innovative start-ups table their best offerings in the
building of the long-defunct Forum hotel at 28 Konopnickiej street.